Asheville, North Carolina is a beer destination, with a rich and thriving craft brewing culture that can trace its roots to its first brewery, Highland Brewing Company, which opened in 1994. Each year the brewery offers up a limited winter seasonal, which is today’s Advent beer pick: Cold Mountain.

Cold Mountain is a spiced winter ale, infused with a secret blend of spices that changes each year. It’s 5.9% ABV with 28 IBUs, and this year marks the beer’s 25th anniversary. The beer that would become Cold Mountain was introduced in 1996, and Highland changed the in name 1997:

This will be the 25th anniversary of a beer that Highland first produced as a holiday treat for the staff in 1996. In honor of the book “Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier and the mountain itself, Highland changed the name from Holiday Ale to Cold Mountain Winter Ale in 1997. Since then, this spiced brown ale’s release has become a seasonal tradition that still draws crowds from North Carolina and across the Southeast.

Every year, Highland hosts a release party for the beer, and for the 25th anniversary this year, the brewery taproom was transformed into a ski lodge for the event, while its downtown taproom was turned into a winter wonderland.

Cold Mountain is just right for taking some of the nip out of the cold weather this time of year. And if you have the chance, don’t pass up on the variations either—Coconut Cold Mountain and Imperial Cold Mountain. All three would be perfect to accompany a roaring fire to warm up your evenings.

Find Highland Brewing Cold Mountain Spiced Winter Ale on:

• Untappd
• BeerAdvocate
• RateBeer
• Facebook

Image credits: Highland’s website.